The 12 passengers on board of the French boat were expelled from Israeland will be today in Paris. They’re fine, as their boat was boarded by the Israeli commandos in International waters. Canadian, Greek and Swedish passengers were sent back to their countries.

After being brought back to the port of Ashdod, the passengers were transferred to a retention centre in the city of Holon next to Tel Aviv. They were visited by their lawyers and the French Consul in Tel Aviv before the Israeli authorities took to them to Tel Aviv airport where they spent the night.

The story of the boarding by Israeli journalist Amira Hass who was on board shows how disproportionate was the Israeli operation. 7 commando boats and 3 missile ships with 150 on board to stop 16 unarmed civilians on a 16 ms long boat.

The Israeli boarding happened in International waters is illegal. Even though no shot was fired, diverting a boat and its passengers under the threat of guns, with military boats, is an act of violence. Let us remind that if the Israeli army took the precaution of not attacking a boat with European citizens on board, it does not hesitate to fire at the Palestinian population.